Florida Aquarium team to travel to Cuba

Members of the Florida AquariumFoundation will travel to Havana, Cuba to hold meetings with the National Aquarium of Cuba.

The Cuban aquarium is looking to build a research partnership with a U.S. counterpart, but the Florida Aquarium has not stated publicly whether it is interested in such an arrangement, the Tampa Tribunesaid. The trip is expected to stretch from next Tuesday to Sunday.

“This is an educational mission,” said Tom Hall, foundation chairman who will travel on the trip. “We want to talk about what we do, hear what they do, and then compare notes. I’ll know more when we get back.”

According to Jeffrey Boutwell of the Latin America Working Group Education Fund in Washington, D.C., the Cuban aquarium wants to create a relationship with a U.S. aquarium on issues of mutual interest including minimizing the effects of oil spills and protecting populations of fish including marlin and tuna, the Tribune said. http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/blog/latin/2014/10/florida-aquarium-team-to-travel-to-cuba.html